Tongs for handling metal



(No Model.)

0. J. BAGLEY 8v L. ROBERTS. TONGS FOR HANDLING METAL.

N0. 527,648. Patented Oct. 16, 1894.

bl b/ o 0 Q 6 a 6 F151 1.1

I? z I I 62 Inventorfi,

Witnesses.-

UNITED STATES CHARLES JOHN BAGLEY AND g ENGLAND.

PATENT OFFICE.

TONGS FoR HANDLIING METAL.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 527,648, dated October 16, 1894.

Application filed June 16, 1894. Serial No. 514,781. ,(No model.) Patented iii France May 12, 1894, No. 238,490; in Austria May 21, 1894:, No. 18,092I and in Belgium May 24, 1894.10. 83.959.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, CHARLES JOHN BAG- LEY and LLEWELYN ROBERTS, subjects of the Queen of Great Britain, residing at Stockton on-Tees, in the county of Durham, England,

have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Tongs or Lifting Appliances for Handling Slabs of Iron or Steel or the Like, (for which patents have been granted to' us in France, No. 238,190, dated May 12,1894; in Austria, No. 18,092, datedMay 21, 1894, and in Belgium, No. 83,959, dated May 24, 1894;) and we do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to tongs or lifting appliances for handling slabs of iron or steel and is adapted for handling such slabs by the aid of a crane in order to lower them into or lift them out of a reheating or the like furnace especially when constructed below the ground level and intended to be charged with a series of slabs stacked one above another in the manner described and illustrated in the specification of our invention bearing date of the 7th of July, 1893, and numbered 13,227, in which it is obviously desirable that the operation of depositing or removing a series of slabs from the furnace should be as expeditious as possible on account of the hot gases escaping while the furnace is open. The tongs as hitherto used for this purpose consist of the usual two levers coupled to one fulcrum the shorter arms of which grip the slab at opposite parts either by indentation or an under clutch the weight in suspension conducing in this respect to the proper action of the tongs the controlling or manipulating power being applied by manual labor direct to the longer arms which are slung from the lifting chain of a crane or hoist. Owing to the intense heat radiating from such masses of hot iron or steel 5 at the times when such operations are in progross, the work of manipulating the tongs in this way is attended with great difficulty.

In order that it may be clearly understood in what way tongs are constructed and fitted up according toour invention so as to be ma- V nipulated at a convenient distance from the mass of hot iron or steel, we will now proceed to describe the same with reference tothe accompanying drawings. 3 i v Figure 1 represents a perspective view of our invention in operation, and Fig. 2 represents a side elevation of a modified form of the same. g

, A pair of tongs is illustrated in each of the figures in the accompanying drawings, that 6o is to say the tongs in each case consist of a 7 pair of levers coupled together to one fulcrumat a, the arms a a of which are connected together by the chains b b which latter have a tendency to hold the tongs closed, and these chains 1) b are slung from a chain b of a crane or hoist, while the arms a a are engaged in gripping the slabs to be raised or lowered as the case may be, and in these respects the tongs which are of the usual well known construction are to be taken as representative of tongs generally of the kind to which our invention is usefully applicable; but in order that such tongs may be manlpulated ataconvenientdistance, we furnishthem 7 5 with the manipulating leverage as shown 1n Fig. 1, consisting of two levers coupled to- I gether at c with their shorter arms 0 c linked or connected to the arms 0/0. of the tongs, while the longer arms a c terminating in handles 0 c yare available for the grasp by hand of the manipulator of the tongs from which construction it will be observed that the manipulator can not only stand at a convenient distance from the tongs and the hot 8 5 mass of iron or steel intended to be gripped but is also furnished with better leverage over the tongs as well.

In Fig. 2 the like result is effected by su stituting for the manipulating levers 0' c 0' 0 c the right and left hand screw shaft doperated by the crank 11 which also allows the manipulator to stand at a convenient distance from the tongs and theirload and affords more power over them as Well, but it will be 9 5 observed that a screw shaft screwed through the arms a ct of the tongs in manner shown in Fig. 2 must necessarily be restricted in its movements relatively to those arms, whereas the combination of levers 0 c 0 c as shown in 1100 we claim as new, and desire to secure by Let-' ters Patent in the United States, is-- 1. In a lifting appliance for handling slabs of heated material, the combination with the bentlevers crossing each other and pivoted together and having the hook-shaped ends a? and the lever arms a; of chainsattached to the said lever arms a and supporting said arms and normally causing the hooks a? to swing toward each other; and hand-operated means for causing said arms a to approach to or recede from each other, and a wedge adapted to lock said arms, substantially as and for the purposes described.

2. In a lifting appliance for handling slabs of heated material, the combination with the bent levers crossing each other and pivoted together and having the hook-shaped ends a and the leverarmsa; of chains attached to the said lever arms a. and supporting said arms and normally causing the hooks 01, to swing toward each other; and a pair of long rods pivoted together near one end and connected at the said end to said arms a, and terminating in handles at the opposite end, substantially as and for the purposes described.

3. In a lifting appliance for handling slabs of heated material, the combination with the bent levers crossing each other and pivoted together and having the hook-shaped ends a and the lever arms a; of chains attached to the said lever arms a and supporting said arms and normally causing the hooks a to swing toward each other; and a wedge adapted to lock said arms; and a pair of long rods pivoted together near one end and connected at the said end to said arms ct',and terminating in handles at the opposite end, substantially as and for the purposes described.

In testimony whereof we affix our signatures in presence of two witnesses.

CHARLES JOHN BAGLEY. LLEWELYN ROBERTS.

Witnesses:

GEORGE JAMES CLARKSON, EDWARD THOMAS ELCOAT. 

